Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. sikandar ali vajd (1914-1983) auraNgabad/hyderabad. Judge/munsif, progressive, member of the rajya sabha, padma shri awardee. He composed a moving tribute to the artisans and labourers who built the main buildings of the Osmania University while he was a student. This is one of series of Ghazal with the same radeef/qaafiya “kya guzri”. Also see qamar jalalavi (two Ghazal), seemab akbarabadi, shakeel badayuni, sahir ludhianavi, saeed shahidi with more to come. They are all composed in the spirit of, “if this is what happened to me, what must have happened to the other party”.
1
biyabaanauN¹ pe zindaanauN² pe viraanauN³ pe kya guzri
jahaan-e-hosh⁴ meN aaye to divaanauN⁵ pe kya guzri  1.wilderness 2.prison 3.desolate/deserted places 4.world of awareness/sobriety 5.mad/passionate/lovers
Mad passionate lovers are usually outside the mainstream of society. When they are forced to come into the world of awareness/sobriety, what becomes of these misfits. Everyone thinks of what happened to the garden … but whatever happened to the wilderness/prison/desolations that the mad men left behind? A well-wisher and supporter of urdushahkar remembered another beautiful she’r of the same theme by ram narain mauzuN
Ghazaalo tum to vaaqif ho, kaho majnuN ke marne ki
divaana mar gaya aaKhir to veeraane pe kya guzri
2
dikhaauN tujh ko manzar¹ kya gulauN² ki paa’emali³ ka
chaman se poochh le nau-Khez⁴ armaanauN⁵ pe kya guzri 1.scene 2.flowers, roses 3.trampling 4.newly formed 5.desires
Something dreadful has happened in the garden. All flowers are strewn and trampled. How can I describe this scene. Ask the garden itself what happened to newly awakened desires. Depending on the background in which this was written this could be about a suppressed labour movement or a communal riot or about partition.
3
bahaar¹ aaye to Khud hi laala² o nargis³ bata deNge
KhizaaN⁴ ke daur⁵ meN dilkash⁶ gulistanauN⁷ pe kya guzri 1.spring 2.tulip 3.narcissus 4.fall/autumn 5.duration, times 6.heart pleasing, beautiful 7.gardens
Implied here is that the poet is unable to relate the story either because he does not know or because it is too painful. At the moment, the garden is desolate. It is autumn. But when the spring arrives and early spring flowers bloom, you can ask them yourselves what the garden went through during autumn. While this is a literal reading of the she’r, it is possible that depending on the context in which it was written this could be about the independence movement which is characterized as “KhizaaN ka daur”. Some knowledge of the context is needed to interpret this, which I don’t have.
4
nishaan¹-e shama-e mahfil² hai na Khaak³-e ahl⁴-e mahfil hai
sahar⁵ ab poochhti hai raat parvaanauN⁶ pe kya guzri 1.mark, trace 2.gathering, party 3.ashes 4.people of, guests at the gathering 5.dawn 6.moths
There was a gathering, possibly at the beloved’s house. Now it is dawn and there is no trace of the candle/lamp of the party, nor any ashes of the guests (moths that got burnt by the candle). Now Dawn is asking whatever happened to the moths. “Moth” could well be a metaphor for lovers and “candle” for the beloved.
5
hamaara hi safina¹ tere tufaanauN² ka baa’as³ tha
hamaare Doobne ke baad tufaanauN pe kya guzri  1.boat 2.storms 3.basis, reason
urdu poetic convention is that storms rise specifically for boats – justy like Destiny/Fortune sends calamities specifically for the poet/lover. Thus, the poet/lover’s boat was the only reason why storms existed. Now that his boat is sunk, whatever became of the storms.
6
maiN aksar¹ sochta huN vajd un ki mehrbaani² se
ye kuchh guzri hai apnauN par to begaanauN³ pe kya guzri  1.often 2.kindness 3.others
I often think O vajd that if her kindness has done this to her friends/well-wishers/lovers then what would it have done to ‘others’.